When enterprises are contemplating a cloud adoption strategy, the cost of cloud applications is usually what initiates interest. A cloud app generally requires no initial investment, and the provider handles all maintenance, updates, and hardware. In terms of cost alone, a cloud application is a clear win over a traditional on-site solution.
What often occurs, though, is that enterprises end up spending much more on cloud applications than what they initially anticipated. Some of the costs may be due to unanticipated network upgrades to support performance requirements or other infrastructure investments. In many cases, the disconnect between anticipated and actual costs is due to bundling.
Why Bundle? Bundling applications makes sense and offers benefits to both the provider and the enterprise. In theory, you receive a lower rate on cloud apps than you would if you purchased them individually. For the provider, it streamlines the sales process and reduces the advertising investment for each individual app.
The result is that many enterprises may be saving to get a bundle, but only if they were using every cloud app that’s featured in the bundle. For instance, a company’s employees may already be trained in using a particular collaboration and messaging tool that they have had in place for years. Their new set of bundled cloud apps comes with a more innovative collaboration tool, but they’re in the habit of using the old one. Now, instead of paying for one, lower-priced app, the enterprise is paying for two and only one is being used.
What Gets Bundled: While there are endless combinations of cloud apps on the market, certain categories of apps are more often bundled. Email and team chat are two of the most common bundling apps, but file storage and note-taking apps are also often bundled.
Get Wise About Bundling: Whether you’ve discovered that you’re paying for multiple email apps, or if you’re planning a cloud adoption strategy, there are a few steps you can take to make your transition more cost-effective.
1. Know What You’re Getting. It’s easy to breeze right past the name of an app on a list if you don’t recognize it, so make an effort to stop and understand what you’re receiving in a particular bundle.
2. Ask About Customization. Maybe you already know that your employees love their current chat app and you’ll have trouble encouraging a transition. Ask about how you can customize a bundle to get the innovative note-taking app that may revolutionize your staff meetings.
3. Know What Your Staff Is Using. As part of a comprehensive needs assessment before making a transition to a cloud app, take an inventory of what apps employees are using and how often they use them. Find out what features make the apps valuable to their work process.
To ensure the cost of cloud applications is really what it seems, contact us at eXemplify. We can help you secure a customized bundling of apps that meets your budget and your business needs at the same time.